Herhold: Traffic court not a good option politically for San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed

One of the fundamental rules of politics is that truth and political truth are different beasts. Political truth -- how something is perceived -- ultimately trumps actual truth. Consider the ticket Mayor Chuck Reed received recently for not signaling in a right-hand turn lane.

The truth is that this is a dubious ticket that the mayor can probably beat in his Nov. 8 traffic court date. Mr. Roadshow's traffic authorities say you're not required to signal in a clearly marked right-hand turn lane unless it affects the decisions of other drivers.

The case of the cops was weakened when Officer Kevin Kyono said a failure to signal was one of his "pet peeves'' — only to have it revealed that he had issued no tickets for that infraction in the past five months. Presumably, Kyono is the kind of guy who is also peeved at Halley's Comet.

Political truth, however, decrees that the mayor should not fight the ticket, and Reed's office says he is deciding whether to simply pay it or go to traffic school as well. Why? If the mayor contests the ticket, it will look like he's evading his civic responsibility.

If he triumphs, it could be seen as getting a break because of his position. Even traffic school is questionable: It bespeaks a yearning for a deal. Better just to pull out the checkbook and bid goodbye to actual truth. In politics, it's a fickle companion.

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Mission redefined

Before the trustees of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District voted last Wednesday to save the Mt. Umunhum radar tower, at least for the next five years, a man in the audience stood up to remind all of a precedent. The original plans for the Golden Gate Bridge called for the demolition of Fort Point, the Civil War-era fort built to protect the entrance to the bay

Had chief engineer Joseph Strauss conceived of his mission narrowly as a bridge-builder, he would have razed it. But Strauss ordered a redesign to save the fort, saying "While the old fort has no military value now ... it should be preserved and restored as a national monument.''

The precedent wasn't lost on anyone at Midpen. For months earlier this year, the open space people conceived of their mission narrowly. Open space didn't include preserving a military tower. And many of their constituents couldn't even see the cube. In their decision Wednesday night, however, they stepped beyond their narrow role. Strauss would have nodded. There is much left up in the air: Midpen has given the proponents no estimate of the total needed. But for now, we owe them thanks for listening.

Sad tale

I couldn't read the story of Dr. Marvin Lawrence Bonham -- the now-departed Valley Health Plan administrator charged with prescribing serious drugs to criminals -- without a sinking feeling. I don't know Bonham, but some of the commenters on the story pointed out that he was once a very respected and thoughtful Los Gatos pediatrician. What happened? Was it an addiction to drugs, a fixation with the wrong people? Why was he unable or unwilling to get help? I can't condone what he's charged with. But I can't help feeling there's a tragic back story here somewhere.